I’m a writer primarily focused on contemporary literary fiction, although I dabble in other genres as the mood strikes. I recently graduated with a double bachelor’s degree in English and Communication, and I’ve been continuing my studies through Harvard Extension School’s Creative Writing and Literature program, while working full-time as a communications specialist.
My work has been published in several local magazines and anthologies, and I have written four novel manuscripts in the last four years (none published, yet). I have also written screenplays for a couple of short films, including One-Man Band, which has been screened in both local and international film festivals.
In this archive, you’ll find original creative fiction, writing prompts, and blog posts from my Writing Rules Project series.
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#41
Imagine what the world will be like in a hundred years, and write a poem about it.
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#40
Write a story that takes place during a long walk home from school.
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#39
What is something people often mistake about you?
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#38
Describe your own hands in great poetic detail.
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#37
Write a list of your favorite words.
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A Vignette
A handful of children, twice their size with coats and scarves and hats that hide their little ears, romp into the snow. It reaches their knees and pours into their boots. But they don’t mind. They welcome the flakes. They scoop billions of them off the ground and onto their tongues.
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Breathe
Each inhale, a slice of chill to the lungs. Each exhale, a cloud. Another inhale, we live on a cloud made of exhales, with wind sneaking up the sleeves of our coats.
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#36
Write a poem about overcoming stress.
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#35
Shuffle your favorite playlist. Write a short story that includes the first line of the first song that plays.
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Forty-One Skies
This story was originally published under the title “Snowball of Lies” as part of my senior writing portfolio for the 2018 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. My portfolio was awarded the Gold Key, and was subsequently included in The Best Teen Writing of North Dakota 2018. Enjoy! I have read eight thousand, three hundred and…
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#34
Describe the way your favorite food tastes without naming it.
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#33
Write a list of fifty things you’re grateful for.
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The “Write What You Know” Rule
SOLVING THE GREAT DEBATE
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#32
Describe a perfect world. Is it physically possible?
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#31
Write a poem about city lights.
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#30
Write about a completely contradictory character.
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#29
Write a joke of at least 100 words. Craft it so tightly that the punch line wouldn’t make sense if you took out even one of the sentences leading up to it.
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#28
What is a childhood experience you missed out on?
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Character Creation Rules
ALIVE ON THE PAGE
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#27
Describe your favorite holiday without naming it.
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#26
Write a poem about an empty library.
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#25
Write a short story about a young queen.
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#24
Would you rather be too cold or too hot? Defend your position.
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#23
What is your biggest pet peeve?
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How-to-Start-a-Novel Rules
NOT THE ALARM CLOCK…
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#22
Describe your favorite weather.
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#21
Write a poem in future tense.
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#20
There are three people in the elevator when it gets stuck. Write a story about them.
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#19
What would people be surprised to find in your trash?
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#18
Describe in great detail yourself practicing your favorite hobby.
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Novel Planning Rules
WHAT AM I PLOTTING?
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#17
What’s your earliest memory?
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#16
Write a poem about your ideal Monday.
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#15
Write a story about a pencil, from the pencil’s point of view.
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#14
What was the weirdest thing that happened to you today?
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“Rebel” – An excerpt from my NaNoWriMo 2015
(As we near the midpoint of National Novel Writing Month, I thought it would be fun to share an edited excerpt from my 50k words written four years ago. My experience with the novel-writing challenge was a little crazy. I procrastinated so terribly that I ended up writing the last half (25k words) in the…
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#13
Rant about your favorite book. What’s so great about it?
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Secrets
(Prompt from The First Line. Check them out, they’re sharing some great work!) I started collecting secrets when I was just six years old.
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Words
Sometimes I feel as if the words have been Dragged out of me, that they have pulled my hair And boxed my ears and left me to scrape my face On the pavement while they tower over And count them one by one by one by one.
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Brainstorming Rules
THROWING IDEAS AT THE PAGE TO SEE WHAT STICKS
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#12
Describe your current setting in deep, poetic detail.
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#11
Write a poem about an empty mailbox.
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#10
Flash fiction. Setting: your happy place. Character: an evil villain.
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#9
Stream of consciousness. What are you thinking right now?
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#8
Channel Ernest Hemingway and “write the truest sentence you know.”
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It’s been a long time coming.
Well, here I am, losing a staring contest with the blank page.
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#7
Describe yourself as if you’re a side character in a book.
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#6
Write a poem about your favorite color.
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Strangers
The subway car hasn’t moved in a long time, and things are starting to get awkward.
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#5
Complete this sentence: “Trouble smells like ___ .” Use it as the first line of a story.